Klarinet Archive - Posting 000311.txt from 1996/10

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Steady Jaws.
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 1996 02:03:16 -0400

At 5:41 PM 10/11/96, Jeff Carwile wrote:
>Re: your comments about moving embouchure for various registers and
>inability to play really well without doing so...
>
>Well, my experience is different. In all of my life, the best clarinet
>players I have heard were the ones that didn't "move their embouchure a 1/2
>inch" when playing in different registers. Gee, to try to find a reed that
>has that sort of variance (and support) sounds frightening.
>
>RE:
>> I know nothing of Mr. Bonade's playing. But it is not
>>relevant to the discussion.
>
>YIKES! Could someone pull out the knife? !!!
>
>That is not to say that you aren't a wonderful, cream of the crop player,
>but I have never known, seen or heard this experience (and I pursue this
>discussion in knowledge - not ego).

That's precisely why Mr. Bonade is not relevant to the discussion. I was
discussing physical facts, not subjective feelings about how one or another
person plays. It has nothing to do with ego.

>
>Are there some acoustical/musician studies you could refer me to?
>

Yes, I have mentioned several times the work of Arthur Benade, who devoted
most of his life to the study of the physics of music and especially
clarinet (because he was a clarinetist). He has a book called
"Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics" (Dover) and he also published numerous
papers in acoustical journals. His widow, Virginia Benade has all of his
unpublished papers and is very helpful about sending out copies of specific
papers if you are interested.

Also, there is an excellent book by Strong and Plitnik call "Music Speech Audio"
(Soundprint).

Both books refer to hundreds of experiments and provide great detailed
graphs, explanations and references to further work.

Good luck.

-------------------
Jonathan Cohler
cohler@-----.net